1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a fire-limiting and smoke limiting construction for preventing fire from propagating and smoke from diffusing within a building. More specifically, the invention relates to a fire limiting screen arrangement employing a non-combustible or fire-resistive screen formed of a glass fiber fabric or silica cloth or the like, with a walk-through feature permitting people to easily pass therethrough.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been required to provide fire limit zones and smoke limit zones within a relatively large buildings and to further provide refugee paths so as to prevent fire from propagating and smoke from diffusing, and to facilitate evacuation. Thus, fire-proof bulkheads, smoke screens, fire shutters, fire retarding doors and the like have been provided.
As is well known, a fire shutter is a steel shutter having a fire resistant property. Typically, the fire shutter has a construction in which a plurality of slats are connected via flexible linkages to be rolled up by means of an electric motor or the like. The fire shutter is operative between a normal state where it is rolled up and stored in an upper portion of the boundary of the fire limit and a state where it is pulled down or developed to close an opening of the building upon the occurrence of fire. In view of its nature, the fire shutter may not be built-in a fire retarding door. Once the fire shutter is pulled down or developed, people cannot pass through the shutter. In order to certainly provide a refugee path for people, it becomes necessary to provide the fire retarding door in the vicinity of the fire shutter. Typically, the fire retarding door is designed to be automatically closed upon the occurrence of fire and can be opened at any time in an evacuating direction.
If a large number of fire-proof bulkheads are provided in various places in a building, fire proofing and smoke-proofing performance can be enhanced. However, it is not practical to provide a large number of such fire-proof bulkheads disregarding the original and desired functionality or convenience of use. Furthermore, various factors, such as matching wall surfaces, storage space in the normal state, easiness of evacuation in an emergency, and installation cost, have to be considered by a designer.